Best DoorDash tips and tricks to help you increase your earnings for more money. DoorDash is one of the largest online meal delivery platforms in the United States, and driving for this successful firm has become a popular side hustle for making extra cash. With this side job, you can work whenever you want and supplement your income.
Best DoorDash Tips And Tricks to Make More Money
1. Dress for The Job
Wear their brand T-shirt. If not, wear clean and presentable clothes when on the job.
Restaurant workers are often very busy with customers. If your appearance clarifies you are there to pick up an order, it can help speed things up.
Prompt delivery and a presentable appearance can also help you earn more customer tips.
2. Find The Best Times To Dash
It is best to dash during the busiest hours, but not if every other driver is simultaneously looking for orders. Here are the best times to dash:
- 6 am to 9 am – More people order breakfast than you realize, and there are few drivers to pick up orders at this hour.
- 11 am to 1 pm – Lunchtime is the busiest for most food delivery apps.
- 5 pm to 7 pm – The extended dinner rush gives you four solid hours to make food deliveries.
- After 10 pm – Customers tend to pay higher tips at this late hour.
Aside from that, consider sprinting on weekends and holidays for bigger compensation and tips. If you have a day job, the best times to make money are on holidays and weekends.
3. Use a Mileage-Tracking App
Did you know tracking and reporting your mileage can help you save money on your tax return? If you didn’t, you do now.
4. Stay in Touch With Your Customer
Let your customer know if you are encountering wait time at the restaurant or are stuck in traffic. Don’t overdo it, but message them if something is slowing down your delivery.
5. Avoid Long-Distance Trips
Long-distance deliveries can suck a lot of cash. Not only do you have to pay for the gas, but the wear and tear of your car will also add to the expense.
These orders may not compensate for your costs if they are not big enough. Focus on closer deliveries.
6. Choose The Right Car When Delivering
Your car should be comfortable, reliable, and fuel-efficient. Keep up with the maintenance, as you can only make money on transportation that works. You can also get paid to advertise on your car.
7. Be Wise About The Deliveries You Accept
Refrain from wasting your time by accepting every order you get. Don’t stress about your order acceptance rate; you should protect your hourly wage.
Generally speaking, you should accept orders of only $7 or above. Try to squeeze in two or three orders per hour. Over time you will learn to recognize orders that are worth your time.
8. Separate Hot and Cold Items
Ensure they are separated when delivering an order containing hot and cold items like ice cream or soft drinks.
Buy an insulated food delivery backpack to ensure the food is delivered to your customers at the proper temperature.
9. Run Multiple Delivery Apps
Run more than one app on your phone to get faster orders. You can try websites and apps like Uber Eats, Postmates, Grubhub, and Instacart with DoorDash to start earning more.
10. Look For Stacked Orders
When you are out on a delivery, DoorDash sometimes requests additional orders from nearby restaurants. Two orders in the same area can help you make twice the money in a similar time. However, ensure the second order is manageable, as it may jeopardize your tip for both orders.
11. Book The Area for Your Gigs
When an area has too many DoorDash drivers, the map gets greyed out quickly. If the area has several well-paying customers, you can open the app early and book that area.
When you book a desired area and time slot, your dash is already locked in. This method can pre-book dashes up to six days in advance.
12. Find The Right Places To Deliver
Find the places in your city with the highest potential profits. Areas with many eateries and a large order volume may be the best bet at times.
However, competition will be fiercer in certain sectors. Some drivers believe the suburbs pay more, while others believe the commute is too long.
When incentives and hotspots draw dashers to a certain location, a vacuum is created in the surrounding area. These fields might also be lucrative to work in.
13. Don’t Use Fast Pay if You Can Wait
Sometimes you need money fast, but if you can wait, avoid using DoorDash Fast Pay.
Normally, DoorDash transfers your earnings weekly, but if you need your money that day, DoorDash is happy to allow you to get it right away — for a fee, of course. Fast Pay costs $1.99 per day.
Skip the fees and wait for the weekly independent contractor payout if you can. Otherwise, you are burning away your earnings.
14. Make sure your phone is charged
When you are delivering food with DoorDash, you do not want your phone’s battery to die on you. This will mean you won’t be able to see any new orders or complete your deliveries properly.
Make sure you get into the habit of charging your phone before you start delivering for DoorDash.
It can be a good idea to purchase a portable phone charger that you can take with your on your deliveries. That way, you can charge your phone on the go, and you don’t have to worry about the battery dying on you. It’s a simple tip, but an important one.
15. Be friendly and polite when making your deliveries
Okay, so to up your earnings, be friendly and polite when you make your deliveries.
Being friendly and polite can up your income for two reasons. Firstly, it can up your rating, and having a higher rating is important.
